Obsession
by FireLionHeart
Summary: After the battle, the Avengers have picked up some fans. Most of them were pretty normal and completely harmless. However, there are always exceptions.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter: 1

"Stark, must you insist on watching that garbage?" Steve said as he carried a large bowl of salad to the dining table. Since moving into Stark tower, so appropriately renamed the "Avengers Tower" it was an unofficial rule that they eat dinner together at least once a week on what Tony had named "the common floor". It was a nice ritual in which those who were halfway decent at cooking would help prepare a huge meal and those who didn't would either stay out of the way, or help to set the table.

"Shh," Tony glanced at Steve waving his hand for him to be quiet. "The rumor mill is spinning," he said with a hint of deviousness in his eye. He turned back to the TV in time to hear the group of people talking on whether or not Tony Stark would ever tie the knot with Pepper Potts. He quickly reached for the remote and turned the TV off. "Maybe you're right Cap, that junk is bad for the mind," he said frantically as he approached the kitchen. "So what can I help with?" Steve, having heard the topic being discussed on the TV, smirked at Tony's reaction.

"You can help Natasha," he nodded to where the redhead stood next to several bottles of alcohol and other drinks. Tony stepped around Bruce who was preparing some homemade garlic bread, and Clint who had been working on the spaghetti, and stood on the opposite side of the counter from Natasha. She was pouring all kinds of stuff into a glass and Tony watched for a moment before interrupting.

"Whatcha working on little red?"

"Playing," She said and finished pouring whatever she had been mixing then raised the glass to Tony. He took a sip and nodded his approval.

"Amazing," he said then handed it back to her. She handed him another to try and after taking a sip he had to wait a second before speaking. "Don't get me wrong I love it but I'm pretty sure if I were a normal man with much less experience I would be dead with just one of these." He took another sip then handed it back as well.

"Tasha let's try to keep everyone alive tonight," Clint said as he stirred the sauce and shot her a smile over his shoulder.

"Here," she said handing him another glass. Tony accepted and once again nodded but this time kept the drink.

"You're good Red I'll give you that." It had become a semi-regular thing for the two of them to test their experiments out on each other. It was something that everyone enjoyed every once in a while and it seemed to be a way for the two of them to bond. Clint was happy that she had taken to everyone as well as she did, and vice-versa. Pepper didn't mind because Natasha always cut him off when it was too much, and he returned the favor on some occasions. There were a few times where the Russian had more because of a bad dream, or a mission gone bad, and on those days when it was just the two of them drinking it was up to Tony to call it quits. It was the same way for Tony when he had nightmares and issues of his own. Though there where also those occasions where both of them would have just way too much and and the others would have to stop them both. Those where either really good days filled with too much free time, fun, and dares, or really bad days filled with past memories, fear, and sadness. Either way it was something they enjoyed. Actually, everyone seemed to have developed different ways to bond with everyone, and not just the obvious people like Tony and Bruce with their love of science. For example, Steve and Bruce had bonded over their love of literature. Natasha enjoyed a good book every now and then but Steve and Bruce where constantly sharing there different opinions about whatever they where reading at the time. Clint had bonded with Tony through the use of target practices. Clint also wasn't scared to try out Tony's new inventions. Tony and Steve found that they enjoyed talking about cars and even went to a car show or two. Steve and Natasha liked to spar. In fact Natasha spent almost as much time sparing with him as she did with Clint. Bruce and Natasha shared a love of tea and they enjoyed spending time alone, talking while drinking the warm beverage. Thor wasn't around as much as they would like but when he was there he took up an interest with almost everything they all did. According to him he wanted to better understand their skills and hobbies. Most of all though, they all had found a family among each other.

"Hey can you two pour drinks for dinner, it's just about ready." Bruce said taking the bread from the oven. Natasha nodded and her and Tony got to work pouring the non alcoholic drinks that would be used for dinner and passed them around on the table.

"It smells amazing in here," Pepper said, making her grand entrance. She put her briefcase down and took off her suit's jacket before joining them all in the kitchen. She gave Tony a quick kiss then picked up two of the drinks that had been poured and brought them to the table.

"How was the meeting," Natasha asked as her and Pepper took their usual seats at the table.

"Exhausting," Pepper replied and Natasha nodded. It was a strange relationship between the two of them. When Pepper had found out that Natasha was really a spy that had been deceiving her and Tony, she was a bit angry at the woman. She was happy because the woman had helped save Tony, but furious that she had lied. Although, she was also relieved to find out that Natasha had no interest in Tony at all. Pepper couldn't quite understand why but there was some kind of barrier between the two of them. Since the battle though, they had started to warm up to each other more. They chatted some but they weren't exactly best friends, and barely even friends at all. However, they did get along well enough.

"You know what," Tony spoke up as he took his seat across from Pepper "I'm thinking that we should double date tomorrow." Both Natasha and Pepper looked at him. The rest of the men came in as well, Clint sitting across from Natasha, Steve beside him, and Bruce beside Natasha.

"There's a party tomorrow isn't there," Natasha asked.

"There may or may not be a small get together tomorrow night that would be a lot more interesting if we all showed up." As they talked food was passed around from person to person.

"What exactly are Bruce and I suppose to do," Steve asked. Tony shrugged then a second later snapped his fingers.

"You could be each other's wingman." He grinned widely at the thought. "There will be plenty of ladies there looking for someone to take them home."

"I think I'll pass." Bruce said shaking his head at his friend.

"Yeah I think that's a no for me too." Steve agreed and handed the salad to Pepper.

"Can't be alone forever big guy," Tony replied then looked to Bruce "and ugh...bigger guy."

"None of your business Tony," Pepper reminded him gently.

"I don't know," Clint spoke up "I think I agree with Stark on this one."

"Thank you!" Tony said loudly.

"Then it's a good thing it's none of your business either," Natasha told him with a look that said to drop the subject.

"It's ok guys," Bruce said "I'm just. I'm not ready for that yet." His thoughts involuntarily went to Betty and he had to shake the memories away before he got upset. He didn't want to ruin the night with the past.

"I'm with him," Steve agreed, his own mind going back to a certain woman from his past. The conversation dropped after that. A silence filled the air as everyone started eating. Bruce was the first to break it up.

"Clint this spaghetti is amazing."

"Thanks, this bread is awesome too." A chorus of agreements echoed around the table.

"So Stark," Steve began when the silence settled in again. He flashed Tony a grin "any good gossip on the TV lately?"

"No," Tony answered just a bit too fast. Pepper gave him a questioning look while the others tried not to laugh. Tony glared at Steve once Pepper's attention was elsewhere.

"Just curious," he said acting innocent. Tony's face lit up with a devious smile then that shut Steve up immediately.

"So Hawk man," Tony reached over and grabbed his drink then made a show of taking a sip and sitting back comfortably in his chair. "You and Spider get a little rough with each other lately?" Steve choked on the food in his mouth and was instantly uncomfortable. Tony grinned victoriously.

"Stark I don't think that..." Steve was cut off by a dagger that flew across the table, shattered Tony's glass that was still in his hand, and embedded itself in the wall behind him. Everyone went silent and looked from the pale faced Tony to Natasha who had a deathly serious look in her eyes.

"Don't use us for your games Stark." Her voice was dark and if Tony were a lesser man he would have fled the room at the killer instincts flowing from the Russian.

"Ok Widow jeez, there's no need to get violent. Learn to take a joke." He took his napkin and dabbed at the drink that he was now wearing.

"And Stark,"

"What," Tony Stark would never admit that the woman made him nervous as hell. Everyone remained silent throughout the whole exchange. Now they all watched as Natasha blinked and her eyes switched from absolute death mode to amusement.

"I win." Clint was the first to burst out laughing, followed by Steve, then everyone joined in. Everyone except for Tony who was staring unbelieving at the her.

"You're scary woman." A smirk played across her face as she stood from her seat.

"It's a talent," and with that being said she went to get a towel. Tony shook his head and looked at Clint who was still chuckling.

"Where did that knife even come from," Clint raised his hand and did the my lips are sealed motion before turning his attention back to his plate. Tony glanced down at his then looked back up at everyone. "You don't think she'd actually hit me..."

"She wouldn't kill you," Clint interrupted.

"Ok, that's not what I asked.

"It's the only honest answer I can give." Tony didn't find that comforting at all.

**So this idea came from a friend of mine who practically begged me to write it. It's his B-day soon and so here it is. I hope you guys enjoyed, it will pick up a lot more in the next chapter. Anyway, let me know what you thought**.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter: 2**

The sun was just starting to set as Tony and Clint waited outside the Avengers tower for their respective girlfriends to meet them. Clint, being the trained assassin that he was, just leaned up against the wall and watched as Tony paced back and forth. At first he found it slightly amusing but now Clint had to restrain himself from tripping the impatient man.

"Stark," Clint snapped and caught the man's attention. Tony stopped and stared at him. "That's not going to make them get down here any faster." Tony sighed and moved to stand beside him.

"I swear they said ten minutes tops. How long has it been?" Tony began to raise his watch up but Clint beat him to it.

"Six," he said "it's only been six minutes Tony will you please chill out?" Tony folded his arms over his chest but remained silent and blessedly still. Another minute passed.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go hurry them up?"

"Stark!"

"Can't leave you alone for five minutes." A voice said from behind them. Tony turned around and was stunned for a moment when he saw his girlfriend. Pepper's hair was done up beautifully with some that was left down to frame her face. She wore a short-sleeved and black dress that hugged her body in a way that showed off her curves but wasn't too tight looking.

"Seven," Tony said when he recovered "It was seven minutes." She gave him a look and he stepped forward and kissed her cheek. "You're gorgeous."

"Very," Clint added from behind Tony.

"Thank you." She said with a smile "both of you."

"Where's Natasha," Clint looked to the door but she was nowhere in sight.

"She was stopped by Steve on the way out," she explained "he needed help with the TV." Tony rolled his eyes at that.

"I'm pretty sure I've explained that at least twenty times by now."

"You didn't explain how to get to the movies," Pepper said.

"I told him to just ask JARVIS."

"He wanted to do it by himself," Pepper shrugged and looked at Clint. "She should be down soon." She said with a smile but realized that Clint was no longer looking at her. Natasha had finally arrived. She had decided to leave her long curls down (like in Iron man 2) and they fell freely around her shoulders. Her dress was a deep green color that hugged her waist then flowed around her legs and came to a stop just above her knees. Her green eyes locked on Clint's stormy blue. He felt Tony nudge his shoulder and he cleared his throat.

"You um...you look beautiful." he said then just as Stark had with Pepper he leaned in and kissed her cheek. Tony and Pepper smiled at the interaction between the two of them. Though they had been partners for a few years they had only been dating for a few months so it was still new to them.

"Thanks." She whispered and Tony clapped his hands.

"Yep you're gorgeous too but more importantly you're here," he said and Pepper rolled her eyes. Tony motioned for the driver of the limo they were using and the man got out and opened the door. Tony gestured to the open door. "C'mon there's a party that we're not at right now."

"The tragedy," Clint whispered under his breath and Natasha smiled. He took her hand and they climbed in after Tony and Pepper.

* * *

Just as expected the party was absolutely full of people. Clint and Natasha were able to slip in without raising too much attention, it was a miracle that their relationship was still a secret from the world, but they were very good at what they did. Tony and Pepper, however, caused quite the stir. Which of course was mostly because of Tony. It took them almost twelve minutes to get through the door. When they finally made it through they walked over to where Clint and Natasha stood waiting for them.

"So, we need drinks," Tony signalled for one of the waitresses and she brought over tray of drinks. "Thanks darling," he flashed her a smile and then passed the drinks around. "Ok next," he took a sip of his drink and pointed at Clint and Natasha "I want to see the two of you mingling."

"We don't mingle with people Stark," Clint said.

"Unless we're about to kill them," Natasha added and Tony frowned.

"Well that's...morbid," he rolled his eyes and took another sip. "Well just do something not so agenty. For one night, live a little."

"And I'll get him out of your hair," she grabbed Tony's arm and pulled him away from the two of them. They walked to the other side of the room where they were away but could still barely see the two assassins. Pepper thought they looked a bit out-of-place among the half-drunken and loud party goers.

"What was that for," Tony asked as he stood beside her.

"You needed to back off," she took a sip of her own drink and they stood there just watching the other couple for a moment.

"I was just trying to give them a little push," he said. She just looked at him and he held his hands up in mock surrender. She rolled her eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back and moved closer so that they were only a few inches apart. "You really do look beautiful." he whispered and her smile brightened even more. She wrapped an arm around him with her free hand and brought her lips to his. They kissed deeply for a while until the need to breathe made them separate. He pulled back and flashed her a smile of his own. suddenly the DJ's voice came over the speaker.

"Ok this song is for all my couples out there, let's get on the dance floor." With that a new song flowed through the speakers and Pepper felt Tony gently pat her shoulder. She looked at him and he pointed to where Clint was leading a somewhat reluctant looking Natasha on to the dance floor.

"Now that's what I want to see." Tony said and Pepper nodded her agreement. suddenly Tony grabbed her drink and put both of their glasses down on a table. He gently took her hand and led her out to dance as well.

Clint found a spot on the dance floor and slowly brought Natasha closer. She looked nervous so he leaned in closer to her and whispered softly in her ear.

"Just like we've done millions of times for missions Tasha, he felt her nod and he pulled back slightly and began to sway to the music. She followed easily and they matched each others movements perfectly. Clint smiled and turned her around before bringing her back to him and she couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips. "There you go," he encouraged and only made her smile grow wider. They moved a bit faster but kept with the gentle flow that they had started with. Their eyes met and for a moment the rest of the world faded away and it was only them and the music. Clint moved closer until there was little space between them.

"Maybe this party isn't so bad after all." She whispered and moved the rest of the space. Their bodies pressed up against each others and she rested her head on his chest as they rocked slowly back and forth. In spite of the music, she could hear the faint beating of his heart. For that moment everything was perfect. It was over much to soon for the both of them but eventually the song did come to a stop. They backed away enough to look into each others eyes and Clint came so close to telling her something that he had so desperately wanted to tell her but was to terrified.

"Thanks for the dance." Natasha whispered in his ear and kissed him softly on the cheek.

"My absolute genuine pleasure," he whispered back and kissed her just as gently. He let his lips linger over her skin for a moment until he moved his head to look into her eyes. The green depth of them had him hypnotized. The sound of someone clearing their throat had them almost reaching for their hidden weapons out of instinct. Tony noticed and raised his hands up in surrender.

"You know I think that's the first time I've been able to sneak up on either of you," he said with a smirk.

"What do you want Stark," Clint almost growled at him.

"I..."

"Hey!" The new voice had them all turning around to look for the source. It was a man who was looking at them with big excited eyes. "You're part of the avengers!" He said and while Tony smiled, Clint and Natasha held back a groan. "I'm here picking up my brother, too much to drink you know, well he left his wallet and I came back in to look for it and I spotted you from the bar!" He said excitedly. He reached out and shook all of their hands. "Wow, you know my sons are in the car and well my oldest has been into archery since he was old enough to know what it was," he said looking at Clint then his eyes moved to Tony. "And you're Iron Man, my youngest loves you! It would mean the world to them if you could just step out and say hello." His eyes were begging them and though he didn't really like it Clint felt for the man.

"Ah what's your name?" Tony asked. The man looked a bit embarrassed.

"John, John Toliver."

"Well Mr. Toliver, we're kind of on a date at the moment but if our beautiful dates don't mind..." Tony trailed off and looked at Pepper who nodded. He looked back at Clint and Natasha and with slight reluctance Natasha nodded as well and Tony turned back to the man with another smile. "We'd love to." Clint looked nervously at Natasha who smiled encouragingly at him, she knew Clint didn't do that great with the new status. He nodded and went to follow John and Tony leaving Pepper and Natasha alone. They stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say to each other in order to make small talk. Pepper was about to attempt when another man came up to them with an almost too charming smile.

"I thought I recognized the two of you," Natasha didn't know why but alarms were suddenly going off in her head. "You're Pepper Potts, My name is Kevin Berch" he reached out and Pepper a bit reluctantly shook his hand. That told Natasha she was feeling it too, Pepper was usually very friendly and open with people. "And I believe they call you the Black Widow." He reached his hand out to her and she shook it as well. Pepper noticed a look in the man's eyes that really gave her the creeps. "My goodness, may I just say that the two of you look absolutely beautiful?" He flashed them another smile and before Pepper could say anything Natasha was already talking.

"Why thank you," she flashed him a smile of her own and placed a hand on Pepper's wrist. "You're sweet but we really need to go find our dates we were just about to leave." She turned Pepper around and silently told her to start walking which Pepper did. "Have a nice night," Natasha said over her shoulder as she went to leave herself. She had only taken a few steps when all at once she felt a hand wrap around her wrist followed by a sharp sting in her arm. The man known as Kevin jerked her back to him and she collided into his chest. Already she began to feel very dizzy but fought it off as best she could and tried to push away from him. Pepper immediately turned around when she heard the small intake of breath from Natasha and turned to see the man holding her close to him.

"Don't make a sound," he said staring straight at Pepper and the scream she was about to let out died in her throat. "Remain quiet and don't move." She saw Natasha's hand move to the hem of her dress but the man caught her hand and brought it to his chest, trapping it under his own. "I wouldn't do that darling." He smiled again and wrapped his other arm around her waist to hold her tightly against him. He brought his lips to her ear and to anyone else it looked like they were just another couple. Pepper wanted to do something, anything, but as if he could read her mind the man shot her a warning look before whispering to Natasha, loud enough for Pepper to barely hear. "Don't fight it darling," weakly she struggled in his grasp but whatever drug he had given her worked its way fast through her system. "Just let go honey," he felt her movements slowing down and held her closer "that's right, just let go."

"Natasha..." Pepper choked out.

"I said silence," the man quietly snapped at her then looked back down at the woman in his arms. Pepper watched her body go limp and felt fear spike through her body. "Their ya go, so much easier right?" Kevin whispered and kissed the top of her head. He released her hand and it just fell to her side. He reached into the back of his jeans and brought out a gun that he kept concealed from everyone else, who still didn't have a clue what was going on. "Let's go," he said to Pepper as he carefully lifted Natasha in his arms, also managing to aim the gun at Pepper's slightly shaking form. He nodded to the exit and she slowly began to walk and prayed that Tony and Clint would return soon to save them.

**So, I would love to hear what you guys thought. Hope you enjoyed. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter: 3

They were led to a long black limo. Pepper hoped that Kevin would leave her and Natasha in the back and sit up front with the driver, but that didn't work out. He motioned for Pepper to get inside and after she crawled in he placed Natasha in the seat across from her and crawled in himself. He shut the door and from a little compartment he pulled out a set of handcuffs and placed them on Pepper's wrists. She was thankful though that they were in front of her. When he finished he went back over to where Natasha was laying and pulled her into his arms so that she was practically in his lap. he wrapped his arm around her with one hand and used his other to move her long curls out of her face. Pepper wanted to go over there and make him stop but the gun resting at his side kept her in her seat. Silent anger rose up inside of her as the man continued to run his hand through Natasha's hair.

"She's so beautiful when she's asleep." He said suddenly "do you agree?"

"You drugged her." Pepper said back at him and saw anger flash through his eyes. "What do you want with us?" The man's hand paused in Natasha's hair and he looked up at Pepper with a slight gleam in his eyes.

"You were not really part of the plan," he said "We wanted Iron man, the Hawk, and her," he said glancing down at Natasha then back up at her. "This just happened to be the first night they were away from the others since we got everything planned out. You happened to be there." He said and his fingers started moving again. "Now, we are all on our way back to our little hideout." Pepper's heart beat against her chest. They had Tony and Clint.

"Where are they?" She tried to keep the fear out of her voice but didn't think she did a very good job of it.

"They are with my brother and his friend, they'll probably beat us there," he replied.

"What are you going to do with them?"

"You see, my brother and I happen to be huge fans of the avengers," he started. "My brother is particularly fond of Mr. Stark, he's an inventor too. He was hoping that Mr. Stark would help him out with his inventions. The Hawk along with being the only other avenger we can actually capture, will be kept simply because we can, also he will be used for...persuasion, if Mr. Stark becomes difficult." Pepper felt a knot in her throat as she looked at the unconscious woman in front of her.

"What about Natasha," his eyes lit up even more and he shot her a bright smile that made a shiver shoot down her spine.

"Well, I have a little obsession of my own." He lifted his hand and caressed Natasha's cheek. "She's mine now." With that statement Pepper felt the anger and fear waging a war inside of her for dominance. Kevin Looked up at her and smiled again. "Don't worry though, my brother is single and I believe he's taken a liking to you." He said and Pepper felt nausea join the battle of her emotions. He turned his attention back to Natasha and Pepper took a moment to get her breathing back under control. She tried to take long, deep breaths to calm her nerves but it just wasn't working. They drove the rest of the way in silence and when the car stopped Kevin gently lifted Natasha up and laid her back down on the seat. He waited for the driver to open up the door then he got out and looked at Pepper. suddenly a phone went off and he took it out of his pocket and looked at Pepper. "I'll be just a minute, sit tight." The door closed then and she waited for a moment before jumping up out of the seat and moving over to where Natasha was, she still hadn't moved at all. Pepper reached out and shook her shoulder slightly.

"Natasha, hey can you hear me?" She shook her a bit harder "Natasha wake up I need help, please wake up!" She said a bit more frantically but got no response at all. She was worried for her, for Clint, and for Tony. Pepper moved her hands over Natasha's mouth and barely felt any air come out. This worried her further and she quickly felt for a pulse only to remember that she couldn't tell what a bad pulse was and cursed under her breath again. She chose to just be relieved that she felt one at all. "Natasha," she tried again "wake up." There was still no response. "Come on wake up," she tried to shake her again but still got nothing. It was then that Pepper heard footsteps and as the door opened she unconsciously moved closer to Natasha. Kevin reached in and grabbed her arm.

* * *

Clint slowly felt the world around him start coming back into focus. He felt his head aching and wondered what the hell had happened. He thought that he had heard something but figured he had imagined it and slowly started slipping back into unconsciousness.

"Clint!" A voice yelled at him and he pulled his mind away from the blackness, he had heard something. "Wake up man!" He fought through the darkness until he could see his surroundings. They were in some type of underground room, that was the first thing he recognised. He then noticed that his wrists were in shackles that were attached to chains which were attached to a hook in the ceiling. His arms were sore from his weight pulling down on them. "Clint! You're awake." He shook his head trying to clear his vision but only succeeded in making himself dizzy. Slowly he looked beside him to see Tony in a similar state.

"Tony, where are we?" He asked and Tony shook his head.

"I don't know. I woke up not too long ago."

"What happened," he asked.

"We followed that guy out to his van to meet his kids, and he hit us with some sort of drug." Tony said and Clint groaned at the pain in his head. A thought then went crashing into him like a bullet.

"Tasha! What about Natasha and Pepper?" he asked frantically and Tony just shook his head. Clint caught the slight tears in his eyes.

"I don't know Clint." A door to the right of them slammed open and Clint's head spun when he snapped his head to the side to look at the new arrival.

"Good you're awake." It was the man from the party and if looks could kill the man would have dropped dead twice as fast as anyone else. "And in a good mood I see," John Toliver stepped between where the two men where chained up.

"What the hell do you want from us." Clint's voice was dangerously calm. The man didn't seemed all that fazed by it though. He actually smiled and looked at Tony.

"I'm a huge fan of your work Mr. Stark, I'm an inventor myself." He said and Tony rolled his eyes.

"So, you want an autograph or something?" He said and the smile never left the man's face.

"I want you," he said and both Tony and Clint wanted to gag. "I want to be you."

"Um I'm pretty sure they have support groups for people like you." Tony said back to him. "Or at least squishy white rooms with doctors and awesome drugs that..."

"Shut up!" The man yelled, the smile gone, and walked up closer to Tony. "Do not insinuate that I am crazy." The man's eyes burned with hatred until he backed away and shook his head apparently to calm himself down.

"Well if the straight jacket fits..." The man turned back to Tony with pure hatred but then went over to Clint and punched him hard in the stomach. Clint gasped for air and it was Tony's turn to shoot daggers at the man.

"I said not to do that." John said looking at Tony again.

"What do you want?" Tony demanded and John smiled again.

"I already told you," he said "I want to be you."

"Uh kind of hard since I'm already me." Tony replied as Clint continued to gasp for air.

"Ah, but soon enough I will get rid of you. You're going to show me how to make one of your suits," Tony scoffed at the comment but John continued "and then I'll get rid of you. I will then have your suit, and your girlfriend." he said and Tony's blood froze in his veins. "You friends won't do anything since I will have her and my brother will have the Widow, so I will also have control over them. Then I will take over your life Mr. Stark." Tony heard Clint practically growl at the mention of another man having his Widow against her will. He couldn't blame him because he was sure that he had made the same sound the first time he had mentioned Pepper's name.

"Where are they?" Tony asked and John shook his head.

"They don't belong to you anymore."

"I'm not going to so much as speak to you unless I see that they are ok." Tony said and glanced quickly at Clint who had managed to catch his breath again. He turned back to John with serious glare. "Both of them." John looked at him for a moment before reaching into his pocket for his phone and called his brother.

* * *

As they walked through the hallways Pepper was relieved to see that Natasha was starting to come around. She could see her trying to lift her head from where it rested against Kevin's shoulder while he carried her. She wanted to call out to her, give her something to focus on and help her pull through the fod, but the man who had driven them around kept one hand wrapped around her arm and the other held a gun to her back. She had already been warned to keep quiet so she didn't think it wise to challenge them. They stopped at a heavy metal door and Natasha finally managed to open her eyes, at least part way, but Pepper could tell that she was still out of it. Kevin lowered her feet to the ground and opened the the door then instead of picking her back up he supported her weight and half dragged, half walked, her into the room.

"Pepper!" Tony's voice immediately caught her attention and she unconsciously tugged against the man's grip on her arm. He tightened his grip and shot her a warning look but she could find it in herself to care. She looked both him and Clint over for injuries and was glad when she couldn't see anything obviously wrong with either of them. "Pepper are you ok?" She looked at all the men standing in the room, she saw John Toliver standing there.

"Answer him," John said.

"I'm fine Tony." She said and noticed that Clint was examining Natasha closely.

"Natasha..." he called out but was interrupted.

"What's wrong with her," John asked what she knew Clint was about to. Kevin shrugged and looked down at the woman he had to support in order for her to even be able to stand. However, the sound of Clint's voice seemed to make her more alert. Her eyes opened again, a little more than the last time, and sluggishly searched the room until they found him. John walked over to them and stood in front of her. He lifted her chin and took a good look at her. "She shouldn't be like this." He placed his fingers against her neck and cursed. "Jeez how much of that stuff did you give her?"

"A full..."

"A full syringe?" John raised his eyebrows at Kevin who nodded. "You're lucky you didn't kill her you idiot."

"You said that she had the same serum as the soldier so I thought..."

"I said a serum like the soldier not the same as, I definitely didn't say to give her a full syringe of the stuff." Pepper knew that if he could Clint would've murder the men already. John looked back at him and shook his head. "Stop your fussing if she's not already dead then she'll be fine when it wears off." He said then turned back to Kevin. "No more for at least a few hours." He said and the other man nodded. The talk seemed to be helping though because she look a lot more awake. "See they're fine."

"You literally just said he almost killed her," Tony pointed out and John glared at him.

"Can we just have a moment to say goodbye." Clint cut in before any arguments started. Both John and Kevin looked at him like he was stupid until Tony spoke up again.

"I bet we'd be a lot more cooperative." He said "And if you're serious about never letting us see them again then can we please just have a moment alone with them?" It was the first time any of them had heard the serious begging voice come from Tony. John, obviously the leader, thought about it for a moment then nodded. Kevin reluctantly lowered Natasha to the floor and followed the his brother out the door. They all heard the locks sliding into place.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter: 4**

There was a feeling down deep in his gut. Though Steve couldn't explain what it was, it just wouldn't leave him alone. It had started about an hour before and only seemed to be getting worse as the time went on. He tried everything to distract himself. He practiced in the gym with a few punching bags, looked at the latest car magazine Tony had given him, and tried to read the latest book that had caught his attention. Nothing seemed to work. As the time grew later he only grew more paranoid until he finally texted Tony, he had to remember to thank Natasha again for taking the time to help him get the hang of cell phones. When there was no answer he tried Clint but had no luck there either. After some more time passed her tried both Natasha and Pepper but still got no response from any of them.

"They're probably just not worried about their phones. They are out on a date." Bruce said when Steve had shared his concern.

"From Tony, and even Pepper, that would be right," Steve replied "but Natasha and Clint always answer their phones in case they get called in for a mission." Bruce thought about that for a moment then put down the book he had been reading.

"They could be up to other things," Bruce pointed out and Steve fought the urge to blush.

"I can't explain it Bruce," he ran a hand through his hair and looked at Bruce "I just know that something isn't right."

"Well," Bruce said after a few moments of silence "what do you want to do?" Steve looked down at his phone. Tony had bought the actual phone while Clint had picked out the case for it, a Captain America case. There was still no messages from the other Avengers.

"I want to take a look at that party," he said.

* * *

No one said anything for the first few moments that they were left alone, or even moved. Pepper looked around the room and saw that behind them there was a large caged in portion that held a bunch of mechanical stuff inside. It looked like a messy, less high-tech, version of Tony's lab. She looked from the caged area to Tony who finally broke the silence.

"Pep, did that man hurt you in any way." Tony's voice was so full of concern for her that she felt the tiniest of smiles tug at the corner of her lips.

"No, I'm fine Tony," she moved to where Natasha was struggling to push herself up to a sitting position.

"Pep..."

"Hang on," she said to him as she bent down and helped Natasha sit up.

"Is she ok," Clint asked and she admired his ability to hide the fear in his voice, even if she could still hear it.

"Natasha?" She said softly and watched as Natasha tried to focus on her. Pepper frowned, she didn't like seeing the woman, who was usually so strong, like this. She continued to hold her by grabbing a hold of her shoulder. She wished that their captors would've unfastened the handcuffs on her wrists.

"What's her pulse?" Clint asked and Pepper shook her head.

"I don't..." Tony didn't hesitate to cut in and give her full step-by-step instructions. She told them the result and neither man looked particularly happy about it but there was still some relief in their eyes so it couldn't have been too horrible.

"Natasha can you say something?" Pepper asked and Natasha closed her eyes.

"Clint." It was just a whisper but Pepper heard it loud and clear.

"Ok, hang on." She said and got to her feet. She grabbed on to Natasha's arm "I'm going to need you to help me ok?" Natasha nodded and with a bit of work they were both on their feet. Pepper helped Natasha make it over to Clint then helped her wrap her arms around him. He gave her a grateful look that she returned with a smile then made sure that Natasha would be able to hold herself up on her own before letting go. It seemed that being near Clint really did have a more positive effect on her. She was able to use her grip around his waist to keep herself up and Pepper went over to Tony. She was glad that she had worn her high heels because, with just a bit of stretching, she was able to wrap her arms around his neck. She held on like it would be the last time she would see him, then realized that it might just be and held him tighter. It was obvious on both of the mens faces that the only thing they wanted more than to get them out of there was to be able to hold them back but their restraints wouldn't allow that.

"It's going to be ok," Tony whispered "We're going to get out of here and go home, and this'll all just be another nightmare." Pepper looked into his eyes and tried to hold back the tears that where rapidly gathering.

"Tony, you can't make that suit for him." She said seriously and Tony broke eye contact.

"I know," he said and glanced over to where Clint was whispering to Natasha. "I'll have to stall untill Bruce and Steve can find us."

"They're going to hurt Clint," she said "Kevin told me that..."

"I can handle it," Clint replied trying to sound as confident as he could for her sake. He didn't want to interrupt them but he thought it sounded more reassuring coming from himself, and Tony shot him a thankful look. They all glanced down at Natasha who just kept her eyes closed and held on to Clint. She hadn't said anything else.

"You think that stuff will wear off soon?" Tony asked and Clint shook his head.

"I don't know," he said "but I think she's getting some of her strength back." He could feel it in the way she held on to him. She was nowhere near one hundred percent but it was slowly coming back to her. Tony saw how Clint's wrists were unconsciously pulling tightly against his bindings and it was only then that he realized how much his own hurt, he'd been doing the same. Pepper rested her head against him and held on just a little tighter. Tony closed his eyes and tried to memorize exactly how her body felt as it pressed against his own.

"He said that we belonged to them." She whispered and Tony could hear how scared she really was and it killed him inside.

"No," he said firmly in her ear. "You don't belong to anyone you don't want to and neither does Natasha. Clint and I are going to get the two of you away from them." He said. She nodded and even if her head couldn't fully believe him her heart did. "I love you." His voice broke slightly and it was just so unlike Tony that she almost lost it right then and there but somehow managed to keep herself together.

"I love you too," she brushed her lips against his and he instantly captured her lips with his own. Beside them Natasha had managed to lift her head to Clint and their lips also came together for a short amount of time before the room started spinning around her again and she had to rest her head against his chest and close her eyes to make it stop. He managed to lean forward enough to kiss the top of her head and she heard him whisper to her softly.

"Tasha I..." He was cut short when the door to their prison burst open again and the two brothers walked in.

"Times up!" Kevin shouted as he moved to Natasha and grabbed her waist. She tried to hold on to Clint but couldn't. She tried to struggle against Kevin, but in her weakened state, it was pointless. John managed to grab hold of Pepper and passed her on to their driver. Both Tony and Clint called out for their girlfriends as they were pulled away from each other.

"Clint..." Natasha managed to get out as Kevin wrapped his arms around her.

"It's ok darling," Kevin said and lifted her up off the ground holding her bridal style in his arms. "You're mine now. No need to worry about him."

"Sick bastard!" Clint yelled at him while Tony was locked in a glaring match with John.

"I hope you said your goodbyes," John said staring directly into Tony's eyes, cutting off Kevin's reply to Clint. He signalled for them to leave and with that Natasha and Pepper were taken out of the room.

* * *

The party was starting to die down when Steve and Bruce had arrived. The reporters however, much to their annoyance, where still present. After getting through the small group of flashing cameras and questions they finally made it into the building and looked around for their missing teammates. Though there weren't as many people as before there was still enough that they knew they had to split up and search. Bruce took the left side while Steve went right. The only thing Bruce managed to find was a couple of teenagers that had snuck in and an older woman who had a bit too much to drink. Steve managed to come across a rather loud interaction coming from the men's room and had backed away with his face blazing red. Why did it have to be him? The two of them met back in the center of the room.

"You know," Bruce said over the music "they could have left."

"Where could they have gone for so long?" Steve said and Bruce gave him a look that clearly said he already knew that answer.

"Barton and Romanoff? That's not like them." He said back to Bruce.

"Tony's a bad influence." Bruce said shrugging his shoulders. "Have you actually tried calling them?"

"Tony said that no one calls their friends anymore," Steve said as he got out his phone. Bruce rolled his eyes at the Captain.

"That's because Tony doesn't like to get phone calls." He said. Steve sighed and pressed the icon on his phone that Natasha had showed him until he got to his call list. He tried Clint's first. It went to voicemail a few seconds later.

"Clint it's Steve, when you get this call me back." He said and hung up.

"Let's go outside, it's too loud in here." Bruce said and Steve followed him out the back exit so that they could avoid the reporters. He called Tony next. Bruce had walked off a little ways but stopped and looked at him with a sort of confused look on his face. Steve left the same message and hung up. "Call him again." Bruce said from where he stood.

"Why?"

"Just do it," Bruce said and Steve did. He heard it that time, the mumbled sound of that Iron Man song Tony had picked for his ringtone. Bruce walked over to the dumpster and Steve came up beside of him. He hung up his phone and the two of them braced themselves for what they might see. Steve opened the lid of the dumpster and laying on top of all the garbage where four abandoned cellphones.

**Annnnnnd there's chapter 4. Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you thought :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter: 5**

"They're gone sir," Steve said to the director. Beside him Bruce simply nodded in agreement. Fury looked them both over for a moment before walking towards his computers.

"What do we know," the screens came to life in front of him and Agent Hill came into the room as well.

"They went to the party at the Horizon Hotel," Steve said "When it started getting late I tried to contact them but no one, not even Barton or Romanoff, answered me back. We decided to go to the hotel but didn't see any sign of them. I tried calling Barton but got the voicemail then we went outside and when I tried to call Stark we heard the phone and found all four of them in a dumpster." Fury took in all the information and nodded.

"Who do you think would take them," Bruce spoke up for the first time and Steve just shook his head.

"I'm going to pull up the street cameras," Hill said from the computer she was at "see if they got anything we can use."

"All of them have enemies," Steve said to answer Bruce.

"I think we can rule Pepper out of that group." Bruce added in there and Steve nodded.

"She was still there."

"So we're looking at someone from Barton, Stark, or Romanoff's past." Bruce said and rubbed the back of his head "that could be a long list."

"Two master assassins and a former weapons manufacturer," Fury spoke up "it is a long list." They all took a moment to just take in the seriousness of it all as several big names ran across their minds of who should be behind the abduction.

"I thought Tony was supposed to take his suit everywhere," Steve said.

"Makes sense now," Bruce agreed. Steve sat down at the conference table and put his head in his hands. Four of his closest friends where missing and they were completely clueless about where they should look.

"Whoever it was," Bruce took a seat across from them "they must have been good. I don't think I've ever seen Barton or Romanoff without any weapons on them." Steve nodded, still holding his head in his hands, but didn't comment. A silence fell across the room then untill Hill spoke up again.

"Sir I'm getting nothing from these cameras," she said with a hint of annoyance.

"Whoever did this must have planned around them," Bruce said.

"But how would they have known they would go to the party?" Hill asked and Bruce looked at her.

"It was a party in the same state as Tony Stark," he said "It was a ninety to ten chance that he would show up."

"What about the others?"

"Maybe they were just after Stark," Bruce said "and the others just happened to be there."

"No, to deal with them all they had to have planned it somehow." She said back to him and Steve's head shot up then.

"It doesn't make any sense," he said "I know for sure that if Tony couldn't, Clint and Natasha would have put up a good fight. They had to have planned it very carefully for there not to have been a huge fight."

"Or any kind of struggle at the very least," Bruce said "there would've been something."

"Maybe someone did see something and just not coming forward," Hill suggested.

"We need a copy of that guest list," Fury spoke up from where he had been listening. "We need to interview as many people as we can. Hill get as many people together as you can." She nodded and headed out the door to get started. "You two try to find any way we might be able to track them down. Also stay by the phones and keep track of the news in case we get contact from the captors." They both nodded and got up to leave. "I want our people home."

* * *

"So, where were we." John clapped his hands together and approached his two captives.

"You and your brother have different last names," Tony said and John smiled at him.

"He's not my brother by blood," he said simply "but he is my brother. We grew up together, watched after each other-"

"Obsessed together." Tony finished and John gave him an annoyed look.

"I do hope you learn to control your mouth," he said to him "otherwise I'm afraid your friend here will be having a really hard time."

"Too late," Clint chimed in.

"So he's like your BFF,' Tony said. He was trying his hardest to stall as long as he could.

"He's my step brother," John replied. The only thing Clint heard was an opportunity to get under the man's skin.

"So who called it quits," he said and John looked from Tony to him. "Your mom or dad."

"Not that it's of any importance to you," he said "but it was my father."

"So you're a lunatic with daddy issues?" John's eyes flared with anger and Clint knew the hit was coming before he even raised his fist. He was hit directly in the stomach again and it immediately knocked the air out of him, making him choke and gasp for breath. John went over to him and grabbed a fist full of his hair.

"You would know all about that now wouldn't you archer." He hissed and Clint kept his face blank so as not to give away any answer.

"You'll...you'll never know." he said between coughs. John released his hair and went back to Tony.

"You're going to make that suit for me Mr. Stark."

"What makes you so sure? What are you going to do kill him?" John smirked at him.

"I don't want to kill him Mr. Stark," he said "but there are things much worse than death." Tony didn't say anything to that and John smiled. "I might even keep you alive." He continued and stepped back so that he could look at Clint as well. "I might keep you both alive. I could keep you as my prisoners down here and let you witness me taking over your life. I could let you both see how your friends fall before me because I have you all captive and you can watch as your lovers serve me and my brother." A low growling sound came from Tony's throat and he saw a death glare shooting from Clint's eyes. "You just stay and think about that for a moment while I go discuss something with that brother of mine." He said with another smirk at the two mens reactions then turned and left the room. Tony began to pull wildly at the chains when the man was out of the room.

"Little bastard!" He shouted in anger and Clint took some deep breaths to keep himself from doing the same. "They can't do this Clint! I promised her, I promised we'd get them out!"

"Tony calm down," Clint said as calmly as he could.

"No! I won't calm down! You heard what he said Clint how are you so damn calm when you have no idea what's happening to them!" Tony shouted at him but stopped pulling against the restraints. "How the hell can you be so calm about this!"

"Tony," Clint said with a bit more of an edge to his voice.

"You know what that other bastard could be doing! Do you not care for Natasha at all!" "Tony," Clint practically growled but Tony didn't listen.

"You saw how weak she was! She can't defend herself right now, and Pepper sure as hell can't! How can you just-"

"It's the only thing I know to do Tony!" Clint yelled back and shut the other man up real quick. He took a few deep breaths and tried to push the images Tony had brought up in his mind away. When he spoke again his voice was calmer. "The only thing I know to do right now is get under his skin, keep making him talk and maybe learn something." He looked at Tony and there was a slight defeated look in them. "I can't...I can't focus on what might be happening because I won't be able to think clearly. If we want to have any chance of helping them then we need to keep our heads." Tony saw him take another deep breath and felt bad about what had just happened.

"I didn't mean-"

"I know," Clint said and gave him a half-hearted smile of understanding. "It's ok Tony."

"I just can't stop thinking-"

"Focus on what we can do to get out," Clint said to him. "Try to focus all your energy on that."

"So from all that, what did we learn?" He asked a moment later with his new game face on.

"We learned that his father leaving is a touchy subject," Clint replied "and he said 'down here' when he was talking. We must be underground somewhere." Tony nodded and took a few deep breaths himself.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Tony asked and Clint kept his eyes trained forward.

"I'm working on that answer."

* * *

The room that they were led to was dark when they had first arrived, no light came in from anywhere. Kevin paused at the door and the man who was leading Pepper along stepped forward with a key. He opened the door and flipped on the light switch to reveal the room that the two women would be staying in. Pepper wished he had kept the lights off. The first thing she noticed was the large king sized bed that was against the right wall. that was basically the only thing in the room besides a metal safe that was in the corner. Kevin stepped in side with Natasha who was still in his arms. He went over to the bed and laid her down in the middle. She tried to fight it. She brought her arms up and tried to push him away but she was still frustratingly weak from the drugs. He was able to pin her arms down relatively easy. She tried to kick him but he simply climbed up on the bed with her and straddled her waist to keep her from moving. Pepper was dragged into the room as well. Kevin looked over his shoulder at her.

"Like I said before," he said to her. "We didn't really plan on you being here." He looked around and apparently spotted something that he nodded at. The man holding pepper looked to where he indicated and spotted the large iron ring that was attached to the wall. The man nodded and dragged Pepper over to the bed. He took out the keys to the handcuffs and released her left wrist. He quickly looped the cuffs through the space at the foot of the bed and reattached it to her wrist. He then went over to the safe. When he opened it Pepper saw that it was full of stuff. The man pulled out some chains and a couple of padlocks. He brought them over and after laying two chains and four padlocks on the bed, he took another chain along with two locks and went to the wall. He attached one end of the chain to the ring, adjusting it so that there was maybe six-foot of chain left and used the lock to hold the chain in place. He then freed Pepper from the bed and dragged her back to the wall. He wrapped the other end around her ankle and used the other lock to hold it in place as well. "If you promise to behave I'll let him tak off the cuffs." Kevin said from the bed where he was wrapping one end of one chain around Natasha's right wrist. Pepper nodded and Kevin nodded to the man before running the chain through the rails of the headboard. The man undid the handcuffs and immediately stepped away from her. She tugged against the chain, now about five foot from the wall, and knew she wasn't going anywhere. "Thank you Greg," Kevin said as he wrapped the other end of the chain around Natasha's other wrist and put the lock in place. Her hands only had a couple of inches of slack away from the headboard. "You can go now. I've got this handled." The man, Greg, nodded and left them alone. Kevin moved down to Natasha's feet and chuckled when she tried to kick him. He caught her foot and used his knee to pin the other one to the bed as he removed her heels and repeated the process he had done with her wrists. "You're too cute," he said as he worked and a slight annoyed noise escaped Natasha's throat in response. Kevin fished getting everything locked into place and moved back up to the head of the bed and sat on the edge. "I don't know what John was so worried about," he said moving some curls out of her face. "You're coming around perfectly fine. Probably still really dizzy though right?" She glared at him as best she could. A knock came at the door a moment later and John stepped in.

"I need to talk to you," he said and Kevin nodded. He leaned down and kissed Natasha's forehead before standing up and going to meet his brother.

**And there's chapter 5, hope you all enjoyed. Trying to make it a bit creepier...did it work? Let me know what you thought :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter: 6**

The edges of her vision were slowly starting to become clearer. Little by little her senses were becoming sharper and her strength returning. However, it wasn't fast enough for her liking. Every time she moved her head the room swayed and she knew that she was trapped on the gigantic bed. It was a helpless feeling that she hadn't felt since she was a child in the clutches of her past organization. She pulled against the chains that held her wrists in place but knew that she wouldn't be able to get free. She cursed her decision to wear her hair down because she had nothing within her reach to pick the locks with. Then again even if she did find something to pick the locks she couldn't reach the locks, her hands where to far apart from each other. They seemed to be your every day average padlocks but she couldn't get a real good look at them because of the dizziness problem. She could also feel a killer headache starting to form. All in all the both of them were stuck.

"Natasha," Pepper whispered as if she were afraid that Kevin would burst in. "Natasha say something."

"Bastard," she replied quietly. She wondered if it was a side effect of whatever drug she was given that her mouth was so dry. She closed her eyes and heard Pepper make a sound that was somewhere between a nervous chuckle and a sigh of relief. "You ok?"

"I think I should be asking you that." Pepper said in reply. "You're really pale."

"I've been worse."

"Remind me never to ask." That made Natasha smile ever so slightly. "When do you think he'll be back?" Pepper asked after a brief pause.

"Hard to say."

"What are we going to do?" There it was, the question she didn't have an answer to. She sighed softly and for just a moment her mind traveled back to the party. It was unreal that a night that had started out so wonderful had ended here. She thought about how it felt when Clint had wrapped his arms around her as they swayed to the music. She remembered the beating of his heart as she laid her head against his chest. She longed for him to burst through the door and hold her. "Natasha?" Pepper's voice broke her out of the temporary daze. She struggle to push all those thoughts out of her head, they wouldn't help her and Pepper get free. Suddenly an idea struck her and her eyes flew open. Her wrists unconsciously pulled against the chains as she tried to get a look at Pepper. That only resulted in the room spinning around her and making her feel nauseous. She laid her head back down on the soft pillows and closed her eyes again trying to calm herself. The headache made a stab of pain shoot through her head but she blocked it out as best as she could. Pepper had watched her the entire time. "Are you ok?"

"You're hair," Natasha mumbled so quietly that Pepper had barely heard her.

"My hair?"

"Is it still up?"

"Yes, why-"

"Hairpins?" Natasha's eyes remained closed and Pepper looked at her in confusion until it finally clicked.

"Yes, but I don't know how to-"

"Get one," Natasha interrupted. Slowly, Pepper reached up and took out one of her hairpins.

"Ok," Pepper's voice was unsure but she would do anything to get out of there.

"Ok, first you're going to..."

* * *

They hadn't spoken much since their last conversation. John hadn't returned and Tony hoped that he wouldn't any time soon. He couldn't help but to think about Pepper, he hoped beyond hope that she was safe. He couldn't bring himself to think about her being hurt in any way. He also found that it helped to imagine all the ways it was possible to kill both men. Clint had kept a stony face with his eyes focused directly in front of him. Tony wondered how many ways he had come up with. He also found his thoughts traveling briefly to Natasha. She had been so weak when he had last seen her, a word he thought he'd never use to describe her. It only added to his worry that she also was at the mercy of these monsters. She had become somewhat of a sister to him and thought it was probably the same for all the men at the tower, except Clint of course. He hoped the two women would keep each other safe as much as they could. He knew that they weren't exactly best friends but he doubted that they'd ever willingly let the other be harmed if they could stop it. He hoped so at least. unknown to the others, one of the reasons he had invited Natasha and Clint to the party, instead of just taking Pepper, was in hopes of the two of them bonding more. He knew for a fact that neither woman had a close female friend and figured it would be good for the both of them. They both needed a female friend that they could confide in. He also hoped that it would help Natasha open up a little more. All of those plans had quickly went down the drain and he could only hope that, despite the boundaries between them, the two women would have each others backs while him and Clint couldn't be with them. Tony's arms where starting to hurt from being chained up like they were. He couldn't help but squirm at how uncomfortable it was. He looked over and marveled at the fact that Clint hadn't moved a muscle. Sure he was well-trained and all but surely he had to be feeling the pain as well, right? The silence between them was definite and the longer it lasted the more he craved a conversation. He managed to keep his mouth shut for as long as possible, untill darker images began to fill his head and he desperately needed a distraction. Somehow Clint seemed to realise this because he spoke up first.

"I'm thinking an arrow through his eye." He said calmly and Tony nodded.

"I was thinking I'd blast him with the suit he wants so bad." Clint looked at Tony then.

"You can't build that suit Tony." He said with complete seriousness.

"How long did it take you to learn how to dismiss your own well-being so fast?" Tony asked then immediately felt he'd crossed the line. He turned to apologize but Clint beat him to it.

"I was never good at self-preservation," he said "but if I had to pinpoint a specific time I would say about six years and three months ago." Tony raised an eyebrow at that answer.

"When you joined SHEILD?" A small smile crept at the corner of Clint's mouth.

"When I refused to complete an assignment for the first time." He replied softly. Tony didn't get it until Clint began to talk again. "I had only been at SHEILD for maybe a year or two when I got the assignment. There was a certain russian spy that was causing SHEILD problems," he said then looked at Tony again "I was sent to kill her." Clint watched as the confused look on Tony's face turned to recognition and shock.

"Natasha?" he said and Clint shook his head.

"Natalia," he corrected. "Natasha's russian name." He added for Tony's benefit. "I didn't meet Natasha untill much later."

"I thought she changed her name when she joined SHEILD," the confused look was back.

"She did," Clint said "but she didn't really become Natasha untill she learned to trust me and open up a little."

"You mean she was worse?"

"Much," Clint replied. "Her past screwed her up a lot." Clint knew what Tony was about to ask so he stopped him before he could even get the words out. "But that's something you'd have to ask Natasha about one day. Not any day soon," he warned "but someday." Tony nodded and left it at that.

"You two care for each other a lot," Tony said.

"I care about Natasha more than anything," Clint said.

"Good," Tony nodded "I don't think I gave you the I'll kick your ass if you hurt her speech yet."

"I'd let you," Clint replied and another short silence followed. Tony briefly thought back to the night before when they were all together, laughing, and having a good time. he thought back to the tv show he was watching and the gossip he'd been listening to.

"I was thinking about proposing to Pepper," Tony said after a moment. He hadn't told anyone, not even Bruce, about his thoughts. Clint didn't respond so he kept going. "I was going to rent out her favorite italian restaurant and propose after we'd danced and the band was playing her favorite song."

"Why the hesitation?" Clint asked.

"I don't know," Tony replied. They fell quiet again and Tony let his thoughts travel back to the image he had made in his mind.

"Hey Tony," Clint said and Tony looked at him.

"Yeah."

"I'll kick your ass if you hurt her," Tony couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. He was thankful for the distraction but eventually Tony's thoughts returned to their present situation.

"What should we do about Kevin," Tony asked after a brief silence. For just a moment something dark flashed through Clint's eyes. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them the look was gone.

"I'll make you a deal Tony," he said calmly but with a dark edge to his words. "I'll take care of Kevin and you can get John." Tony thought of this for a moment. He thought of how Kevin was around Natasha and how Pepper was meant to belong to John. It was a fair trade.

"Deal," he said.

* * *

"Damn it," Pepper said in frustration when, for about the fourth attempt, the lock didn't open. Usually she wouldn't use that kind of language and fussed at Tony when he did, but this was special circumstances.

"It's ok," Natasha's voice was stronger and for that Pepper was glad. She kept her eyes closed though and Pepper wondered just how terrible she was feeling. "Try again." Pepper took a deep calming breath and put the hairpin back into the lock. She carefully repeated every step that Natasha had told her but once again failed to get the lock open.

"This is useless," Pepper said rubbing her temples. "He'll be back any minute now." She mumbled under her breath. Natasha seemed to hear anyways.

"Then you have to try again." She said and Pepper wanted to yell at her only because she was so frustrated at the little lock. Natasha was right though, she couldn't give up yet. With a shaky hand she tried again. She didn't realise that she was holding her breath until at last the lock came open. She stared at it for a moment, not quiet believing what she was seeing. "I did it!" She said loudly then quickly lowered her voice "I got it open." Natasha's eyes remained closed but she nodded slightly.

"Go see if the door is locked." She said as Pepper got the chain off her leg. She got up from where she had been sitting on the ground and went to the door. She opened the door slightly and she had a strong urge to run out of there. She then closed the door as quietly as she could and went over to the bed. Natasha opened her eyes before Pepper even reached her.

"It's open," pepper said as she reached for Natasha's left wrist.

"Pepper,"

"I'll just get you free then we can-"

"Pepper you need to get out of here." Natasha said firmly but Pepper ignored her. "Pepper go get Tony and Clint, I'll be fine here-"

"I can't just leave you Natasha," Pepper said as she moved the hairpin around inside the lock.

"Pepper, if he comes back and sees you, you won't have another chance." She explained calmly "You need to go now while you can."

"It would be wrong to leave you here," Pepper hoped with everything in her as she worked but that hope was quickly crushed when she couldn't get the lock open. She ignored Natasha telling her to leave and focused on getting the lock open. However, her blood froze when door swung open.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter: 7**

"Hey Clint," Tony said. To him it had felt like an hour since they were left alone. Clint glanced over at him, he for one knew that it had only been ten minutes.

"Yeah."

"I spy something red," he said then turned his head and looked straight in front of him. Clint didn't know what to say at first.

"Are you serious right now?" He shot Tony a look that said he thought Tony had lost it. Tony kept a straight face and continued to stare at the caged in room in front of them. Clint huffed a bit under his breath and shook his head at his friend. He couldn't believe Tony's last comment. "Your tie?" He said referring to the red and black stripped tie that Tony was still wearing.

"Nope."

"The rubber handle on that wrench?"

"Nope."

"The switch on that...whatever that thing is."

"Yes," Tony replied "and it's a-"

"I really don't care Tony." Clint said cutting him off before he could really get started. Clint was about to actually continue their little game of I-Spy when they heard the locks turning on the door. They both watched as it came open to reveal John. Clint desperately wanted to smack the smirk right off the bastard's face as he stepped into the room. He stopped and just looked at his two prisoners with a slight gleam in his eye. It was the kind of sparkle that just screamed that the guy was nuts. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked between his two prisoners.

"I do hope you though about what I said Mr. Stark," he spoke as if were a simple business deal.

"Kinda hard to think when you're this uncomfortable. Is this how you treat all guests?" Tony replied with his usual sarcasm. John smile was laced with annoyance when it spread across his face. He turned away from them and towards the caged in area.

"You will build me that suit Mr. Stark," he said softly "the question is how much Mr. Barton will have to go through before you give in."

"Let the girls go," Tony said then, all traces of the sarcasm was gone. John turned around with an amused look.

"Like I've said before Mr. Stark," he stepped closer to them "it would be best for both you and Mr. Barton to forget about the two of them. My brother especially will not give up Ms. Romanoff easily." He smirked at Clint who wanted nothing more than to snap the man's neck. "So, yes or no Mr. Stark?" The two of them stared each other down. It killed him inside but Tony finally gave his answer.

"No." A sickening smile spread across John's face.

"I was hoping that you'd say that." He took out his cell phone and sent out a message to who they guessed would either be Kevin or the other man who was with them. Sure enough, not even five minutes later, the other man walked through the door. In his hand he held a wooden bat. "You sure you don't want to rethink your answer?" John said raising an eyebrow at Tony. He didn't answer him, only stared at the wooden bat in the other man's hands.

"Tony," Clint snapped at him. He looked over and Clint gave him a "don't you dare" kind of look. "I can take it." Tony glanced at the bat quickly then back at Clint, and finally he gave him a nod.

"How noble of you Mr. Barton," John said "let's see how long you can keep that up, Greg." He motioned for the man holding the bat to step forward, and he did. Tony couldn't help but to think that at least they got the other guy's name. He glared at the man as he approached. "Brace yourself," John said as Greg raised the bat over his shoulder. Tony didn't want to watch but found that he couldn't help himself. He swore that even he could feel that first blow.

* * *

For just a moment it was like time had frozen and they all stared at each other. It was broken only moments later by a thunderous yell from Kevin.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"Pepper run!" Natasha yelled at her as Kevin charged towards them. It snapped her into action and she managed to make it about five steps before he caught her. She couldn't help but cry out as he grabbed her arm and yanked her painfully towards his body. It was at that moment that she really noticed just how much bigger the man was compared to the two of them. As she watched it all, Natasha pulled frantically against the chains holding her down but got no success. He half dragged Pepper back to the chain that was attached to the wall. She wasn't even thinking when she stopped against his soft toed shoes with her heel, it was pure instinct. Kevin let out an angry howl and released his grip on her. She scurried away from him and turned towards the door. However, she stopped when she caught sight of Natasha who was still pulling uselessly at the chains. She looked towards the open door then back to Natasha, they weren't close, but her heart was torn between the two. She couldn't just leave her there to deal with the vial man by herself.

"Pepper go!" Natasha screamed at her and snapped Pepper out of the trance she had been in. It all happened in just a few seconds but it felt so much longer. Just as she had made up her mind and told her heart to shut the emotions off for a moment, Kevin regained his composure. She rushed for the door, and after stumbling with the first step, he chased after her. Pepper made it through the door and Natasha felt a pang of hope. She stopped struggling for a moment and finally realised how sore she had made her wrists. She trained her eyes on the door and strained her ears to hear anything that might be happening down the hall. The slight bit of hope that had formed inside of her was quickly crushed only moments later. She heard his angry voice and soon could see him, with Pepper thrown over his shoulder, walking back down the hallway. She turned her head and looked up at the ceiling as he came back in to the room. Pepper kicked and struggled in his arms but didn't manage to get free.

"You are quickly becoming more trouble than you're worth." Kevin growled at her as he practically threw her to the floor. He reached for her ankle and she reacted by kicking out at him. He leapt back holding his chest where her foot had made contact and glared at her. Pepper only caught a glimpse of his raised hand before she felt the pain in the side of her face. The stinging brought tears to her eyes that she fought against with all her might, not wanting to give him the pleasure of seeing them there. She watched as he raised his hand again.

"Pathetic bastard," she heard Natasha say from where she was. Kevin's hand faltered then fell as a dark look flashed through his eyes at the words. She forced herself to give him what was perhaps the scariest look she had ever given anyone as he got the chain back around her ankle and the lock in place. At the same time he managed to take her heels off and threw them towards the safe that was way out of her reach.

"Now my darling," he said as he got to his feet and turned towards the bed "what was that you said?"

"Pathetic little bastard," Natasha said with no fear and no hesitation in her voice. Pepper felt her heart skip at the look he gave her as he walked calmly to the foot of her bed and reached for the heels that she wore as well.

"That's what I thought you said," he slowly undid the straps and took the heels off. He threw them to where Pepper's rested and walked to the side of the bed. "That's not very nice my dear," he said and took a seat next to her. He reached out to touch the side of her face but she jerked her head away from his hand. He frowned at her then reached out further and gently ran his fingers through her hair. "You do know that you won't escape me right?" He said as he touched the side of her face anyways, she shuddered at the contact.

"Don't touch me," she hissed back at him and tried to jerk away from him again. He smiled at her attempts even though she couldn't move more than an inch, and that was a maybe.

"Don't you get it darling," he asked in a sickening sweet kind of voice "you're mine now, and I can do whatever I want." As if to emphasise his point he moved to his knees and leaned over her, he moved one hand so that it was on the other side of her body, for support. He smiled down at her and moved forwards.

"Stop! You bastard stop it!" Pepper yelled at him, hoping it would have the same effect as before, but he ignored her. Natasha remained silent and waited. She struck as soon as he was in the right position, her head colliding with his nose. He jumped back off the bed, letting out an almost inhuman yell, and holding his nose with both hands. Natasha felt her head spin from the contact.

"You little bitch!" He yelled as he looked at the blood that was on his hand, he hoped it wasn't broken. Anger burned through his eyes as he went back over to the bed and hit her like he had Pepper only moments before. The sound seemed to echo off the wall and Pepper couldn't didn't even notice the small yelp that came from her as she watched. Natasha didn't make a sound. Before she could turn her head back to look at him he had got back on the bed and grabbed her chin, as painfully as he could, and forced her to look at him. His eyes softened but she could still see the anger he tried to fight back for the moment. "I don't want to hurt you," he then let his grip soften "but I will not hesitate to discipline you when I have to." He stared at her for a minute or two before getting off the bed and walking to the safe. "I have to punish you both," he said "but you, my Natasha, are my full responsibility." She briefly wondered how he knew her name but figured he heard one of the others say it. "For now I'll just focus on something for you both, but I wouldn't press your luck darling." He turned around and both women saw a roll of duct tape in his hands. He walked over to Pepper. She tried to struggle against him but he managed to push her up against the wall. He brought her wrists behind her back and wrapped the tape around them a few times before breaking it off. He then tore off another piece and put it over her mouth. "For your punishment ladies," he said as he took off another piece and walked back to Natasha. He leaned over the bed and she glared at him as he did the same to her. "Is no talking to each other untill I choose to let you." He put the tape back in the safe and closed the door. "Now I need to go clean myself up," he said as he walked to the door "the next part of your punishment." He reached over and flipped the light switch down. "I'll see you soon." He said with a smirk before closing the door, and also blocking out the last bit of light. Complete darkness settled in around them.

**So thanks to my friend who gave me the idea for this part by saying and I quote..."They have to fight back sometime"...here ya go. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed let me know what you thought. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter: 8**

Through the huge window that was placed in the common room of the Avengers tower, Steve could see that the sun was slowly beginning it's decent. His friends, his family, had officially been missing for a day and they still had no leads as to where they could be. Somehow, the ending of the day had brought with it a sense of darkness throughout the tower that he couldn't escape. He turned away from the window and couldn't help but glance into the huge kitchen that, only yesterday, had been filled with such joy that it almost hurt to look at it. With a quick glance down at his watch, Steve noticed the time. It would be about the time that they would be preparing dinner. He walked over to the counters that Pepper and Bruce had wiped clean after the last meal they had all shared. He placed his hand on the hard surface and it seemed colder than it should have been. He could almost imagine Clint standing by the stove, giving his opinion about whatever topic was being discussed as he kept a careful eye on whatever it was he was preparing. Much to the other avengers surprise, except for Natasha, he was a rather good cook. Steve could almost see Natasha and Tony standing at the bar and teasing each other while trying each others different creations. He kept expecting the door to open any minute to Pepper coming in after a long day of meetings and decision making. He could almost hear the playful banter they all took part in, the laughter, the happiness of having everyone together and getting along. Despite what they sometimes said about each other, they had become like a sort of family. Sometimes they couldn't stand to be around each other but they would each give up everything they had for each other in a second. The tower seemed that much more lonelier, that much quieter, than it had ever seemed before. The quiet footsteps behind him alerted Steve to Bruce's presence.

"I don't understand how we haven't found them yet." He said without turning around to face the other man. "SHEILD is one of the best, if not the best, intelligence agencies out there."

"They're still going through the more high-profile enemies. Tony alone is enough to take a while, can you imagine adding Clint and Natasha to that? It's bound to be a long list."

"It still doesn't make any sense." He turned then to face Bruce. "Why didn't they fight back, how did they get taken without anyone at that party noticing?" Bruce rubbed the back of his head as he searched for the answers himself. He wished that he could help Steve but he couldn't explain it himself. "I should have gone to that party." Steve said softly.

"No one could have predicted that this would happen," Bruce said softly to him. For some reason neither of them raised there voice much above a whisper. "It just did."

"It's my job to protect this team."

"It's our job to protect each other," Bruce corrected him. "But no matter how much we would like to, we can't prevent every bad thing from happening. They were on a date Steve, we didn't feel the need to intrude so we didn't. It's as simple as that, nothing more nothing less. None of us did anything wrong it just happened." Steve leaned against the counter and stared down at the floor in front of his feet.

"I still can't help but feel like we let them down somehow." Bruce nodded at that.

"I think it's normal to feel guilty," he said "I feel it too."

"What are we going to do Bruce," Steve looked back up at the doctor who shook his head slightly.

"I don't know. We can't just go down the street shouting their names and hoping for a reply."

"I just hate sitting here feeling useless." Steve said and lowered his head again. Bruce understood that, he hated the feeling too. He took a step away from the doorway, into the kitchen, and leaned against the wall next to the refrigerator. The two fell into a silence that was thick with the tension in the air.

"Remember that time Tony blew up the lab with that stink bomb he was going to use on Clint?" Bruce said after a moment and Steve couldn't help the small chuckle because of the memory.

"Made the whole floor smell like rotten eggs for a week." He replied with as much of a smile as he could manage.

"Yeah, and Pepper made him shower about three times a day to try to hold back the smell that was stuck to him." Bruce said with a small smile of his own.

"How about the time Clint woke Natasha up using water balloons." Bruce laughed at that. "I thought she was going to kill him."

"She got back at him by hiding his arrows for the rest of the day." Steve said laughing softly at the memory. The two reflected on the memories for a moment, both happy for the small distraction.

"We're going to find them." Bruce said after another short silence. Steve nodded and they quietly left the kitchen area to head back to SHEILD. They wouldn't lose hope. They were going to find their family.

* * *

"Have you had enough little Hawk?" Greg's fingers held a painful grip on Clint's hair, and forced him to look up at him. Clint spit some blood out of his mouth from where Greg had punched him. He looked past him to John who had watched the entire time, only breaking his silence a few times to repeat his question to Tony.

"So, why did daddy leave," he asked "is it because you weren't the son he always wanted?" That earned him another hit to the gut from Greg. Clint was just glad that he had used his fist and not the bat. He knew that he had a broken rib and at least one or two that were bruised. John took a step closer to him.

"You just don't know when to shut your mouth do you?" Clint smirked up at him.

"Touchy," he said and The hit was given by John then, his fist connecting right to his jaw. Tony watched it all with a sense of guilt burning inside of him. He wanted to help Clint but at the same time he knew that he couldn't build that suit. Also, he knew that he couldn't just pretend to be building the suit because he would be constantly monitored from outside the caged area where he would be working. His thoughts were interrupted when Clint took another hit. They had stripped him of his shirt a while ago and Tony could see the dark bruises around his body. He wished that Clint would shut his mouth but in all honesty he couldn't say that he would have if the situations were reversed.

"You know Mr. Stark," John said walking directly in front of him. "You could end all this pain we've caused your friend if you would just give up."

"And you can prevent all the pain you're going to be in if you just give up." Tony replied. Greg gave Clint another hard punch to the gut.

"It amuses me how you can call this man a friend yet watch him suffer like this." John said and shook his head slightly. "It is a pity that the price of one of your suits may be his life."

"If you're going to hit me at least do it right," Tony heard Clint say to Greg. The comment was followed by a punch to the jaw.

"There you go," he mumbled.

"I am curious Stark," John said stepping forward slightly. "Would you be able to live knowing you were the cause of Mr. Barton's death?" He said staring directly into Tony's eyes. "Would you be able to sleep knowing that he was slowly beaten to death because you refused to do a simple command?" Tony heard Clint wheeze slightly beside him before he spoke again.

"Hey Stark," he spit out a bit more blood "I don't think mommy loved him enough." It was John's turn to turn and punch Clint hard in the gut. Clint couldn't suppress the small groan that escaped as an intense pain shot through him due to his broken rib. It really did hurt Tony to see him in such a state. It was then that the door opened again and Kevin stepped into the room. A hint of annoyance pasted through John's eyes at being interrupted but it quickly faded. Clint couldn't help but smirk when he saw the little bit of blood on Kevin's shirt with the slightly bloody tissue hanging out of his nose. He also didn't miss the slight limp he now walked with. "A bit more than you bargained for?" Clint said to him as he approached his brother. He gave Clint an annoyed look before cracking a smile.

"She is a feisty one." Kevin said to him with a smirk of his own. "Ms. Potts surprised me as well." He said with a quick glance at Tony.

"What do you mean," Tony said but Kevin ignored him. He turned his attention to John and the two of them took a few steps back, whispering too softly for Tony or Clint to hear. What do you mean?" Tony asked again once the two men were finished talking. Kevin once again ignored him. He simply turned from them and walked out of the room.

"We're done for the night." John said to Greg who nodded and walked to the door as well. "I suggest you two try to get some rest." He said and glanced from on to the other. "You'll be needing it." He then turned from them and slammed the door on his way out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter: 9**

Pepper never really minded the dark. She, like most children, went through a phase where it terrified her but she grew out of that when she was about eight years old. Natasha had much more complicated opinions about darkness. She also went through a period of fearing it but that was because it was used as a punishment when she was in the Red Room. When she was still new to the room they would lock her in a dark room by herself, sometimes for days, until they thought she learned her lesson. Eventually she grew used to it and it was then that they stopped using it. But, as she grew older, darkness had become her companion. She spent years hiding herself in the shadows, allowing the darkness to mask her movements and protect her. Both women could agree though, that the darkness that surrounded them put them on edge. Darkness does funny things to people's minds. They couldn't see anything and the only thing they could hear was the other woman's breathing or the clanking of chains when one of them pulled against their restraints. They where both eager for the light to come back on.

Pepper had felt extremely discouraged when she had been brought back into the room. She realized that she should have listened to Natasha. She should have run out of there while she had the chance to, not only because of her own safety but because she would have been able to get help. At the very least she might have been able to avoid their captors long enough to get Tony or Clint free. She wanted to apologize but she wasn't going to. She wanted to apologise because she now realized why she should have run earlier. She wasn't going to apologize because she didn't feel like she should have to because she didn't want to leave Natasha. She wouldn't apologize for not wanting any harm to come to the other woman. As she thought about all of that some hair fell into her face and she tried to shake it away. It didn't help much because the hair just fell right back to where it was, but when she had shook her head Pepper had felt a tug at the top of her head. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was. In all the excitement she had forgotten about the other hairpin in her hair. A small bit of hope surged back up inside of her but she realized that she would have to get the tape off if she was going to get to it. She tested the duct tape and found that Kevin had used more than she had realized. It was tight against her skin and she could somewhat tell that it was a thick layer of tape surrounding her wrists. She pulled at it anyways. Carefully, she moved her wrists and tried to stretch out the material.

Her thoughts travelled to Tony and Clint. She wondered how they were holding up. John had said that Clint would be tortured if Tony refused to make the suit and it was pretty clear that he wasn't going to. She hoped that Clint was ok. They wouldn't kill him would they? Surely they wouldn't if Tony kept refusing. The thought of john doing just that made her stomach turn. She didn't know much about the Clint but he was a nice guy and he always made an effort to speak with her when they saw each other at the tower. In fact all of the avengers had sort of become like a kind of family to her. When they had all moved in they all had immediately fell into an easy routine with each other and while it took Pepper a bit longer to bond with them, since she hadn't been fighting to save the world with them, she soon fell into that same rhythm. Her relationship with Natasha was a bit strained because of the way they met and the deceit that was involved, but she couldn't picture her life without the red-head there as well. Pepper tugged harder at the tape that bound her wrists together but it wouldn't budge. It seemed to not move at all. She imagined all the horrors that could and probably would fall upon them and pulled even harder at the tape but it still refused to give. She wasn't getting out of it anytime soon and the knowledge of that made her heart sink just a little more. The thoughts filling her head, the unwavering duct tape surrounding her wrists, a chance at getting free so close but her not able to grab it, and the darkness surrounding her was all starting to get to her. Still, she pulled at the tape even though her brain was screaming at her that it was hopeless.

* * *

The sun was beginning to come up. It painted the sky with different shades of pink and red. Light spread across the buildings and in no time the air would begin to warm up from the slight chill that the night had brought. Steve sat by the huge window as the world around him came to life. He had gotten maybe an hour of sleep but no more. Bruce had gone to bed a couple of hours ago but Steve knew for a fact that he hadn't gotten much sleep either. They had both stayed on the common floor last night and after Bruce had gone into one of the guest rooms Steve would occasionally hear him moving around in restlessness that he understood well. He let his thought drift once more to his missing teammates as he watched the colors fade into the normal sky blue color that would stay throughout the day. He wondered if they were hurt, or if they were even alive. He wasn't going to try to fool himself. He knew that the chances of them being found alive went down every day that they remained missing, especially since there continued to be no ransom demand or any type of contact from whoever had taken them. That fact alone was enough to put him and Bruce both on edge. What did the kidnappers want from them? Was the reason that they hadn't heard from the kidnappers because his friends where already dead? He didn't want to think like that and, in fact, he pushed the thought away from his head. He had to believe that they where all still ok because he didn't think he'd be able to handle the alternative. The light of the new day brought both dread and hope at the same time. They were going to find the rest of their team.

Bruce laid there on the bed and just stared up at the ceiling. He had watched as the light began to shine through his window. He knew that if he looked into a mirror he would see the beginning of dark circles forming. He hadn't been able to sleep since the night the others had gone missing. He looked calm and collected on the outside but that was how he must keep himself. He, and everyone else for that matter, couldn't afford to lose control of himself like others could. He so badly wanted to just yell, scream, and protest against what had happened but that just wouldn't work out for everyone. He had to remain calm for everyone's sake. It's hard sometimes, to always have to keep your cool. His team was the only people who seemed to really understand that. When they could tell that he was having a bad day they all tried to make an effort to help him relax and cheer him up. Also, he had come to realise that they did it not just because they were afraid of the other guy but because they genuinely wanted to help somehow. It was on those days that Tony would let him pick the project that they worked on, that Clint would make jokes and usually cook something that he knew Bruce enjoyed, Thor would ask him to explain some topic of midgardian science as he called it because he knew that Bruce liked to talk about it, Steve would ask about the books he liked and offer him something to read, and Natasha would bring out the more expensive tea in her collection and they would sit in silence as he read and she did whatever while they drank the warm beverage. Pepper was a kind woman who would just brighten his day up with a smile or by distracting Tony when he became too much for him to handle. He was having a bad day. Tony wasn't there to play scientists with him, Clint wasn't there to make one of his favorite foods, Natasha wasn't there to warm him up with tea. Pepper wasn't there with all the warm caring that was just her. Steve was still here but he very much doubted that a book would make him feel better. He worried for them so much that it made him sick to think about what could be happening to them. He wanted them back safely just as much as Steve did. He wanted the tower to feel like his home again and that could only happen when all the familiar sounds and faces were returned. He had to keep his spirits up, they were going to find them and bring them home. They would find them because there was simply no other option that he cared to acknowledge. He refused to think that they all weren't coming home.

Both Bruce and Steve kept repeating it over and over again. They would find their friends and bring them home. They might not be one hundred percent ok but they would be alive and that is all that matters. They would become their dysfunctional family again and everything would go back to normal again. They kept repeating it to themselves and refusing to believe otherwise, but it was there. Neither man was naïve, they knew that there was a chance that their fantasy could become the complete opposite of what they wanted. In the back of their minds they knew because they had all learned at a young age that life doesn't always go how you wanted it to. But they repeated what they wanted, the only thing they wanted to think about, and kept up the hope that their family would soon be together again.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter: 10

Light flooded in through the doorway and, without warning, the overhead light came on a moment later causing both women to wince at the harshness of the blinding light assaulting their eyes. Natasha and Pepper both glared at Kevin who walked in with Greg following behind him. Kevin strolled up to the bed in a much peppier mood than the last time they had seen him.

"Good morning my darling," he said brightly as he leaned over and pushed some hair out of her face. She jerked away from him as much as she could but he didn't seem to mind. "Oh don't be like that." He sat down on the edge of the bed and reached over but paused and gave her a serious look. "If you be a good girl I'll take this off." He said nodding to the tape that was still over her mouth. She kept her glare trained on her face but didn't pull away again when he reached over and, as gently as he could, removed the tape. On the other side of the room Greg took off the tape that covered Pepper's mouth as well.

"You ready?" Greg said as he pulled out a key and Kevin nodded then looked back at Natasha.

"It's come to my attention that you two might need a trip to the bathroom," he said and got up from the bed. Natasha thought it was probably asking too much for him to just have a moment of stupidity as he came back with a syringe in his hand. She let her eyes grow wider at the sight. She never had to act much when it came to needles because if she were being honest with herself, she truly was afraid of them. He ignored her trying to play the part of the scared prisoner. He smiled as he grabbed her arm to keep her from jerking it away and brought the needle to her skin.

"Kevin you don't need to…" she felt the needle pierce through her skin "don't."

"Ah," he said when she tried to pull away. He held her arm tighter and emptied the syringe. She started feeling dizzy a moment later as he took the needle out. "Now that's a good girl." He whispered and caressed her face gently.

"Natasha," Pepper called as she was being led from the room.

"C'mon darling," Kevin said as he undid the chains from her wrists and ankles. He helped her off the bed and led her out of the room behind Pepper.

* * *

"Mr. Stark are you really going to let your friend go through all the pain I have planned for him today?" John said in an obviously false caring voice.

"Do you really think you'll convince anyone with that voice," Clint said back at him using the same kind of tone. That earned him a hit to the abdomen again. He groaned slightly but kept the smirk on his face. John grabbed a fist full of his hair and glared at him.

"You are getting on my last nerves." He said and pushed him away. "It's not a place that someone in your position wants to be." He said and shot him another glare as if to dare him to open his mouth again. Clint never was one to back down from a challenge.

"Is that what daddy used to say?" John hit him again and his eyes rolled in the back of his head for a moment.

"Oh," Tony chimed in "it was mommy wasn't it?" That earned him a black eye of his own. John hadn't really meant to hit Tony but he was getting aggravated. He took a few steps back and turned away from them. He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down.

"I think we're getting to him Tony." He heard Clint say and a though suddenly came to him. He smiled as he thought about his new invention and how it could always use a test subject before being put to its actual use. He kept smiling as he left the room without looking back at his two prisoners.

* * *

Greg smirked up at her as he got the chain locked back around her ankle. Pepper only gave him a halfhearted glare. Her hopes had been shut down when he had noticed the hairpin and had taken it away from her. She didn't know how they would get free now. Greg stared at her and it was making her a bit uncomfortable but she didn't have long to think about that when the door was flung open and slammed against the wall with a loud bang that made her jump.

Kevin stormed in yanking Natasha with him. He had one hand twisted in her long hair and the other held her wrists together behind her back. Pepper took in his now blackened eye and the fact that one of the straps from Natasha's dress was ripped, it didn't take a genius to figure out the situation. Kevin roughly pushed her forward and she landed hard on the edge of the bed.

"Natasha!" Pepper called out and tugged against the chain that held her back. Natasha had just managed to think about moving when Kevin was there turning her on to her back and holding her down with his weight. He grabbed her wrists and tried to pull her up to where she would be laying on the bed properly but she struggled against him as best as she could with the drugs still going in her system.

"Don't fight me Natasha," Kevin's voice was strained from the effort to keep her down. "Get over here!" He yelled at Greg who quickly went to his side. Together they managed to get her on to the bed and Greg helped to get the chains fastened around her ankles while Kevin worked on her wrists. Pepper felt broken. She couldn't do anything to stop it all and could only watch as Greg left the room and Kevin sat to where he was straddling Natasha's waist.

"Get off of me," she said in a low and dark voice. Kevin was about to say something when a drop of blood fell on to her cheek. He reached up and noticed that his nose was bleeding again. Rage filled him and he hit her so hard it left a handprint on the side of her face.

"Stop!" Pepper screamed but Kevin ignored her and studied Natasha. She still didn't make a sound, showed no sign that it hurt, and that pissed him off more. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"You don't tell me what to do Natasha," he said. Natasha didn't like the sound of her name coming out of his mouth. His fingers dug painfully into her skin and she was sure there would be bruises. "I own you. You are mine," a sick smile spread across his face and he released her. "And I can do what I want with you." He sat up and his weight pressed into her. He reached up and wiped at the blood he could feel coming out of his nose. He paused and for just a second then touched his finger to his nose and looked at the small amount of blood that came off on it. "Your defiance can't go unpunished." His voice was a lot calmer than it had been a second ago. He smiled down at her and she didn't even flinch when he wiped the blood that was on his finger on to her cheek that was still red from where he had hit her. Pepper felt her stomach turn at that. He started to lean in closer but apparently he remembered the last time he tried because he stopped and wrapped a hand in her hair to hold her head down. He leaned in closer until she could feel his breath on her skin. She tried to throw him off of her but he yanked her head back exposing her neck and making her still her movements. He brought his lips to her neck and she tried to fight back horrible memories that were coming to the surface.

"Stop it!" She heard Pepper yell but Kevin didn't seem to care too much. She felt him smile against her skin and before he whispered to her.

"You're going to learn who you belong to Natasha," he kissed his way up to her ear and lowered his voice even more when he whispered in her ear "Tasha." Anger roared inside her. Only Clint was allowed to call her that. Before she could do or say anything however, Kevin moved quickly down her neck and to the place that was right above her chest. Before she could protest she felt his teeth biting into her skin. She couldn't help the small yelp of pain as he bit down hard, on the border line of drawing blood, and held it there for a moment before siting up and admiring his work. He beamed at the sound of her pain and watched as she tried to catch her breath again. He trailed his finger on the mark he had made on her. It was deep and was sure to stay there for a while. "You're my Tasha now," he said and was about to lean forwards again when his phone buzzed. He looked at it and his smile grew bigger as he climbed off the bed and headed for the door. "I'll be back love." He said before the door shut.

* * *

Tony finally had scouted out all the tools he had needed. He felt bad that Clint had to go through the torture that he did but he wanted to make sure that he had everything he would need for his plan. He turned to Clint and hoped that the trust he had built up with the man was enough. He was about to talk open his mouth to talk to him when the door burst open and he inwardly cursed at John's timing. A moment later Kevin entered but stayed back away from everyone else.

He held two bracelets in his hands and a smirk on his face as he walked over to Clint. "So, are you ready to give in yet Mr. Stark?" He attached one of the bracelets to Clint's wrist using some sort of special tool.

"You know I'm flattered and all but I don't really like getting jewelry from dudes," Clint said before Tony could respond. John smiled as he stepped back and pressed a button on his watch. A surge of electricity went through Clint's system but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. "Is that all you got?" He snapped when the current was cut off. John smirked and looked to Tony.

"Are you ready to give in yet Mr. Stark?" He asked and Tony squared his jaw. John turned the top piece of the watch. "A shame really." He pressed the button and another surge of electricity ripped through Clint's system in a much stronger shock. He tried his best to hold back the scream that threatened to rip through him. A moment later it stopped and Clint gasped slightly despite himself. John smiled widely at that. He looked over to Tony who was glaring daggers at him. "I made these myself," he said turning the other bracelet over in his hands. "They actually work better than what I expected them to." He took a step closer and held the piece of metal up for him to see. "If I turn this up all the way it would kill him in less than five minutes." He said and looked Tony straight in the eyes. "Want to see?"

"You really are a pathetic bastard." Tony replied and John made a show of turning the watch as far as it would go and pressing the button. Clint did scream then as the electric current raged through his system. Tony waited just a few seconds before screaming at John. "Okay!" He yelled. Suddenly Clint slumped down and John looked up at Tony with an evil gleam in his eyes.

"What was that Mr. Stark?"

"I said I would do it you sick bastard." Tony said with a death glare in his eyes.


End file.
